Newsletter ·
17 Jul 2026 Planning Planet News
Dear Planning Planet Members,Welcome to the newsletter — shared across the largest community of project controllers on the planet. Our new, faster, more modern…
Dear Planning Planet Members,
Welcome to the newsletter — shared across the largest community of project controllers on the planet. Our new, faster, more modern web portal is taking shape, and that’s thanks in no small part to all of you.
Your feedback, your bug reports, and your suggestions are helping us refine and improve the platform every day.
If you’ve written something on project controls — an article, a thought piece, a lesson learned, or even just a rough idea you’d like to explore — we’d love to collaborate with you. Share it with us and we’ll feature it in future posts.
It’s free, and it strengthens the collective knowledge of our community.
Artificial Project Periods
Project delivery is full of hidden delays—many of them self‑inflicted. In this sharp, eye‑opening piece, Alex Lyaschenko reveals how “artificial project periods” quietly slow teams down, drain float, and distort scenario analysis. If you’ve ever wondered why your schedule looks right but behaves wrong, this is the article you’ll want to read.
Source: Alex Lyaschenko
Precise, Stable, and Still Wrong: The Illusion of Certainty in QRA
Quantitative Risk Analysis promises precision, stability, and confidence — yet many of us have seen QRA outputs that look scientifically robust while being fundamentally misleading. This article exposes why that happens, how false certainty creeps into our models, and what practitioners can do to fix it.
Readers will learn:
- Why highly stable Monte Carlo outputs can still be wrong — and how this illusion of accuracy leads teams into dangerous decision‑making.
- How model structure, assumptions, and data quality quietly dominate results, even when the simulation appears mathematically sound.
- The hidden traps in probability distributions that create a veneer of sophistication while masking flawed logic.
- Why “precision” in QRA often reflects computational consistency, not real‑world truth.
- Practical steps to make QRA more honest, transparent, and decision‑useful — including better assumption management, scenario framing, and communication of uncertainty.
For anyone working in project controls, cost, schedule, or risk, this piece is a sharp reminder: QRA is only as good as the thinking behind it — and the thinking often needs a reset.
10 Reasons You Should Never Hire Senior Project Planners
Both the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Association for Project Management (APM) agree that successful projects are built on sound planning, governance, risk management, stakeholder engagement and realistic scheduling. Yet, senior project planners are often brought into programmes only after delivery has started to wobble.
In the spirit of the World Cup, here's a tongue-in-cheek look at why you should definitely never hire one:
1. Your projects would actually finish on time.
Just as FIFA publishes the tournament fixture list years in advance, a senior planner builds an integrated master schedule, identifies the critical path and continuously forecasts completion dates. Surprises become the exception rather than the rule.
2. Your team would stop playing without a game plan.
World Cup winners don't simply turn up on match day. Likewise, senior planners decompose delivery into a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), define dependencies, sequence activities, and establish realistic milestones before execution begins
3. Red cards would become obsolete.
Before the first whistle, experienced planners identify delivery risks, assess probability and impact, develop mitigation actions and build realistic schedule contingency, preventing many project ‘fouls’ before they happen.
4. VAR would no longer be your governance strategy.
Instead of waiting until things go wrong, planners establish governance calendars, stage gates, dependency sessions, milestone reviews, baseline approvals and integrated change control so decisions are made before projects drift offside.
5. Your league table would always tell the truth.
Senior planners don't rely on optimistic status reports. Especially when produced in isolation. They use measurable progress, schedule performance, forecasting and Earned Value Management (EVM) to show whether the project is genuinely winning, or quietly heading for relegation.
6. Every player would know their position.
Successful football teams have defined roles. Successful programmes have clear ownership, responsibility matrices, integrated schedules, resource plans and stakeholder alignment, ensuring everyone knows exactly what they're expected to deliver.
7. Your substitutes would already be warming up.
When key resources become unavailable, suppliers slip, or priorities change, senior planners have scenario plans, schedule options, resource levelling and recovery strategies ready before the crowd even notices.
8. Nobody would mistake possession for progress.
Having lots of meetings, emails and PMO dashboards doesn't mean you're delivering value. Senior planners focus on critical deliverables, milestone achievement, dependency management and benefits realisation, not just activity for activity's sake.
9. You'd stop blaming the referee.
Missed milestones rarely happen because of bad luck. Experienced planners expose unrealistic assumptions, unmanaged dependencies, scope creep and decision delays early enough for leadership to take corrective action before the final whistle.
10. You might actually lift the Project Management World Cup.
Like every successful FIFA tournament, great programmes rely on standards, preparation, governance, teamwork, disciplined execution and continuous performance measurement. Elite planners bring those principles together, turning ambitious strategies into winning deliveries.
Source: Sunchana Johnston NED FAPM CHPP ERP Programs Master Planner
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: MUSTANG TECHNOLOGIES - TOOLS BUILT FOR THE REAL-WORLD
Mustang Technologies has supported Primavera users since 2000, delivering practical tools that make schedules cleaner, reporting easier, and data more reliable.
- XENA — XER Scrubbing Tool Used globally to clean and prep P6/OPC data for accurate imports. www.xenautilities.com
- P6ETL® — BI Data Extraction Pull Primavera data from Oracle Cloud, Loadspring and more into Power BI, custom reports, or data warehouses. www.p6etl.com
- Auto Baselining for P6 Automatically maintain project baselines on a schedule — no manual effort. https://www.mustangtechnologies.com/p6etlautobl
- Oracle Analytics & Power BI Development Custom dashboards and reporting built for Primavera data.
- Custom Primavera Integrations Interfaces and automation to streamline processes and improve data connectivity.
For details or to connect with the team: sales@MustangTechnologies.com 888‑763‑8533 (USA & Canada)
We look forward to connecting with members of the Planning Planet community.
Remarkable milestone. What stands out is not only 70 years in planning, but the continuity of curiosity
On Monday 16th July 1956, Raf began his career in the computer industry at British Tabulating Machines Ltd, 17 Park Lane, London — programming tabulators and the BTM 1202, better known as the HEC1202 (Hollerith Electronic Computer). Working alongside two colleagues (he was the junior member of the trio), he helped develop the TOTIAC compiler and later moved into programming Critical Path software on the FBW project, more commonly recognised as Polaris.
Seventy years on, he is still here — Scheduling, EVM, Planning and everything in between.
Micro Planner X-Pert is now 48 years old and still delivering outstanding results, especially in Resource Scheduling. Yet today’s generation of schedulers often tell him that true resource‑driven scheduling is “too difficult”… which makes him smile. The pioneers who built the foundations of our discipline didn’t choose the easy path — they chose the right one.
Read the comments and get involved...
Source: Raphael Düa Consultant – Senior Planner and Senior Master Scheduler and Lead Project Controls
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: SHARE XER / MPP NO INSTALLATION, OR REGISTRATION – A SIMPLE LINK
XER Reader — Share Your Schedules Instantly
Share your project schedules in XER and MPP format with anyone — instantly. No installation. No login. No email registration. Just upload and share a simple link.
Why keep your schedule locked away?
You’ve updated your programme. You’ve moved the data date, applied actuals, adjusted milestones, updated progress, checked variances, and calculated earned value. You’ve done all the hard work.
Now make it easy for others to see it.
Share your schedule with: - Your project team, Steering groups, Suppliers, Sponsors, Delivery partners, Clients or Owners
One link. Zero friction. Full visibility.
Try it now — and get 50% off
Use the Planning Planet discount code: PP50
Take a look...
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: IAMTECH KNOWLEDGE: TWO PLANNERS. SAME JOB. TWO ESTIMATES
IAMTech Knowledge: Two planners. Same job. Two different estimates.
It happens on every shutdown planning team, in every industry. Not because planners don’t know their craft — but because every experienced planner carries their own norms, their own assumptions, their own bias.
AI doesn’t replace the planner’s judgement. It standardises the baseline.
When every work order is estimated against the same decades of industrial maintenance norms, the inconsistency disappears — and the schedule becomes something leadership can actually plan around READ MORE.
Wish your planning team all planned consistently? First look at iPlanSTO AI-Enhanced Planning: WATCH VIDEO — or VIEW BROCHURE. How would this transform planning in your world?
To arrange your demonstration, contact jonswift@iamtech.com.
Acceleration Is Not Just Adding More Manpower
When a construction project falls behind, the first reaction is usually predictable: "Increase manpower."
This is often the weakest response.
More workers do not automatically recover time. In many cases, uncontrolled manpower increases create congestion, trade stacking, poor supervision, material shortages, rework, safety issues, and lower productivity.
Real acceleration is not about forcing the site to work harder. Real acceleration is about identifying the actual programme bottleneck and changing the production system so the project can recover time without creating new problems.
A professional acceleration plan must answer:
- Which activity is controlling completion?
- Which work package is losing production?
- Which area or floor is blocking the next trade?
- Which delay must be recovered?
- Which activities are critical or near-critical?
- What acceleration method will recover time?
- What will it cost?
- What risks will it create?
- How will recovery be measured?
Source: Mohammad Khalifa Talafha, MSc, PMP
Know your schedule is sound before you issue it
Know your schedule is sound before you issue it
FCA, the Fundamental Check Analyser in SMACT®, runs any baseline or update against thresholds you set and gives you a clear read on schedule health. Logic, constraints, negative float, durations and more, each scored and packaged report ready, so you catch the weak points before a review board or client does.
- Set your thresholds. FCA measures logic, constraints, negative float, durations and more, each against a threshold you control.
- Read the result. Every measure comes back as a plain pass, check or fail, so schedule health is obvious at a glance. Click into any check to see the detail behind the result.
- Issue with evidence. Export the report ready output and put it straight in front of a review board or client.
Find the weak points in your schedule before someone else does.
Run the Fundamental Check Analyser free for 7 days. Drop in an XER, MPP or XML, no credit card, no commitment, cancel any time.
Check your own schedule in FCA
SMACT® is a registered trademark of FSH Tech Solutions Pty Ltd, Perth, Western Australia. smact.com.au
VALUE-ADD and FREE WEBINARS
- 21 July - Keeping Projects on Track: Applying Constant Control Systems in Project Controls (PC Expo / Adelaide, Australia | ibis Adelaide) - Discover how integrated control systems, continuous feedback loops, and proactive decision-making can improve cost, schedule, and overall project performance. Gain practical strategies from industry experts and leave with actionable techniques to apply across your projects. Register now...
- 23 July - P6-Loader Mini Webinar - Template Loading and Updating in Primavera P6 (Emerald Associates) - P6-Loader is not only for cleaning up and maintaining your P6 database. It has some amazing automations, fragnet, and template schedule development automation tools. Taking advantage of 30 years of integration expertise, Emerald Associates has built time-saving automations into P6-Loader, allowing a user to grab a project, fragnet, or template, and make placeholder replacements into activity IDs, names, UDFs, codes, WBS, and more. This feature is fantastic for automating program development, capital project development, turnaround and outage schedule development with different work order types, and also for maintenance program work. This new feature allows you to load and reload multiple times as templates change. It is a game changer on bid schedule development. Register now...
- 29 July - P6-Loader v16 New Release Webinar (Emerald Associates) - In this release of P6-Loader v16, Emerald has added a new status interface that can be viewed in a grid with filtering and sorting capabilities. The detail interface has also been updated to a grid view with the same capabilities. This version also offers the ability to filter on extract. The user can select specific WBS within a project and anything under it, including activities, steps, resource assignments, and relationships. Filters have also been added for projects to select extraction information based on Project Codes, UDFs, and dates, allowing more granular extractions for the project(s). One or many filters may be applied at a time. Register now...
- 30 July - Project Controls is Evolving—Are Your Offices and Intelligence Keeping Up? (PC Expo / Washington, D.C., USA | JMT, 4th floor, 601 New Jersey Ave NW) - Explore how AI, transformation strategies, and future-ready project control offices are reshaping the profession. Learn how to build stronger capabilities, drive greater value, and prepare your organisation for the next generation of project controls. Register now...
- 18-20 August - Spider Project Introduction Masterclass Offer (Salute Enterprises) - To celebrate 15 years of helping organisations improve project delivery, planning, governance and decision-making, Salute Enterprises is offering this Spider Project Introduction Masterclass as a charity-supported initiative. The masterclass introduces participants to a different way of thinking about project planning and control. Based on the principles of resource-constrained scheduling, Resource Critical Path, project optimisation, and Success Driven Project Management (SDPM), the course provides practical insights into creating and managing realistic project schedules using Spider Project. Participants will gain an understanding of the basic concepts that underpin Spider Project and learn how these concepts can be applied to improve planning, forecasting, and decision-making across projects, programs, and portfolios. Register now...
- 14 Oct - EVA34 High Performance Resourcing, 34% Discount HPRESOURCE34, London (Steve Wake) - The theme is High Performance Resourcing. Forget AI for the minute or at least put it in the toolkit until you've decided what you want it to do for you. Now think about High Performance Resourcing. And the people doing the work. Where are they? How well are they doing? What can you do to help them? Do you know what they are working on. Do you know what they did today? How do connect the people not just on one project but all the people on all the projects. How's the whole organisation doing? How could AI help? Really help or just automate chaos? Is it about Controls or Skills? Or both? Register now...
Contact us to get your event here - PPAdmin@planningplanet.com
René Morkos on McKinsey, Generative AI, and the Future of Construction
How is generative AI changing the rules of modern project delivery? ALICE Technologies CEO René Morkos recently sat down with Commercial Observer to discuss how the platform has optimized over $115 billion in global construction. In this exclusive Q&A, Morkos breaks down ALICE's groundbreaking commercial alliance with McKinsey & Company, the crucial distinction between static planning and dynamic simulation, and how "generative scheduling" helps builders run millions of sequencing scenarios to recover from delays and protect margins.
Minimum Planning Expectations from Management
Senior management often talks about “minimum planning expectations”—but how clearly are these defined, understood, or consistently applied across projects? This thought‑provoking blog from a planner with 50 years’ experience challenges the profession to look under the stone and confront the basics we think we’re getting right but often aren’t.
The article breaks down the 15 essential sections that shape planning from tender through close‑out, covering everything from governance and competence to programme integrity, supply chain interfaces, risk analysis, and archiving. It highlights how these documents define what planners must deliver—and how deviations should be agreed, recorded, and governed before a project even begins.
It’s a rare, honest look at what management should expect from planning—and a reminder that many organisations still fall short of these fundamentals. The blog ends with a simple but powerful challenge: Do you actually know your minimum expectations?
Source: Peter Holroyd
PCE MEET: WHERE PROJECT CONTROLS PROFESSIONALS LEARN, CONNECT & GROW
Project Controls Expo UK 2026 — The Home of Delivery Certainty, Predictability & Accountability
Project Controls Expo UK (PCE UK) is Europe's leading event dedicated to project controls, bringing together 2,000+ professionals from across infrastructure, construction, energy, transport, defence, government and major capital programmes.
The Expo connects industry leaders, practitioners, asset owners and decision-makers to exchange knowledge, showcase innovation and shape the future of project delivery.
The 15th edition takes place 2–4 November 2026 at the iconic Wembley Stadium, London, featuring expert-led conference sessions, an extensive Partner Showcase, networking opportunities and hands-on learning from some of the world's leading organisations, including AWE, the UK Ministry of Defence, EDF, PETRONAS, NISTA, and many more.
Early Bird Registration Ends 4 August
Secure your place now and take advantage of Early Bird savings, available until 4 August 2026. Join 2,000+ project controls professionals for three days of learning, networking and industry collaboration at Europe's premier project controls event.
The One Thing Schedules Can’t Calculate
Every planner knows Primavera can crunch numbers at astonishing speed - but Jan van den Berg reminds us of the uncomfortable truth: a schedule only works if the people executing it believe in it.
In this compelling real‑world story from offshore fabrication, Jan shows how a mathematically “perfect” synchronized schedule demanded 64 hours a day during the Christmas window - yet he held the team to 57 because the rhythm of the work, the human limits, and the trust of the workforce mattered more than the algorithm.
It’s a powerful reminder that you can’t rush a robot, you can’t stack people behind a bottleneck, and you can’t expect honest reporting from a team that knows the plan is fiction.
If you care about resource synchronization, human factors, and schedules that actually work, this is a must‑read.
Read the post and join the comments...
Source: Jan van den Berg
CONSTRUCTION CPM CONFERENCE 2027
We’re finalizing plans to bring the Construction CPM Conference back in 2027 at the Hilton Palacio del Rio on San Antonio’s River Walk.
Mark your calendar for February 23–25 and get ready to register your team, as we continue building a conference for Constructors, by Constructors.
Our focus will be strengthening Planning to drive Performance—so every attendee leaves with practical takeaways they can use right away. We will be continuing the legacy that Fred has built since 2011.
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: P6 LOADER - BUILD FOR PLANNERS
P6‑Loader v16
P6-Loader v16 - Extraction Filters Clip:
P6‑Loader v16 is built for planners who want to stop wrestling with P6 and start moving faster. The new release gives you granular WBS extraction, powerful multi‑layer filters, and clean grid views that make it easy to see exactly what you’re pulling from your projects. You can filter by codes, UDFs, dates, status, or dive straight into specific WBS nodes and extract everything beneath them — activities, relationships, resources, steps, the lot .
Jobs now open in sortable, filterable grids, with message logs you can export straight to Excel for quick reviews and audits . And behind the scenes, a new job storage engine keeps everything running smoothly, even on busy enterprise setups .
If you’re managing big programmes, cleaning data, or prepping schedules for reporting, v16 gives you the control you always wished P6 had.
Read more...
For more information or to schedule a demo, please reach out to us at emerald@emerald-associates.com.
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: SWITCHING TO CLEOPATRA & P6: NAVIGATE YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS!
Managing shutdowns and turnarounds with outdated or disconnected tools can lead to delays, budget overruns, and missed opportunities for improvement.
This webinar shows you how switching to the combination of Cleopatra and Primavera creates a fully integrated turnaround management solution—combining work package planning with Primavera’s powerful scheduling and resource planning to transform how you plan, execute, and deliver. You’ll gain valuable practical insights, proven workflows, and the lessons learned from end-to-end digital approach.
If you’re looking to modernize your processes, streamline collaboration, and achieve consistent turnaround success, this webinar will show you exactly how to make the transition.
In 50 minutes, you will learn:
- The current state of turnarounds and where the industry is heading
- How to plan work packages using Cleopatra
- Why having an integrated scheduling solution is a key success driver
- How Cleopatra works as an integrated solution with Primavera
- Lessons learned from a high complexity turnaround at a Cleopatra client’s facility
EVA34 HIGH PERFORMANCE RESOURCING
EVA34 High Performance Resourcing
Wednesday 14 October
Armourers Hall
34% discount
Its on Wednesday 14 October at the Armourers Hall as usual. ONE day and optional dinner. The programme is coming together rapidly. A few slots are available for Speakers Sponsors Supporters and Exhibitors.
My gift to you is a 34 % discount for 34 days until Monday 3 August which as everybody knows is National Clean Your Floors Day.
The theme is High Performance Resourcing. This is where the improvements in efficiency and benefits are. Huge and significant for Controls and PMO people.
Forget AI for the minute or at least put it in the toolkit until you've decided what you want it to do for you. Now think about High Performance Resourcing. And the people doing the work. Where are they? How well are they doing? What can you do to help them? Do you know what they are working on. Do you know what they did today? How do connect the people not just on one project but all the people on all the projects. How's the whole organisation doing? How could AI help? Really help or just automate chaos? Is it about Controls or Skills? Or both?
www.stevewake.com
34% Discount HPRESOURCE34
LET'S OPEN UP OPPORTUNITIES TOGETHER
To support every practitioner, employer, consultant, and recruiter in our network, we’re opening up free job postings for everyone. Whether you’re:
- An employer with a vacancy
- A regular practitioner looking to strengthen your team
- A consultant searching for standout talent
- A recruiter with a role to fill
…you’re invited to share your opportunities with the entire Planning Planet community.
No charge. Simply contact PPAdmin@PlanningPlanet.com and we’ll help you get your role in front of thousands of committed project controls professionals.
Let’s make this a space where opportunities flow freely, careers grow, and our community continues to lift one another. View Jobs... Post Jobs...
- Project Controls Manager, Planner - Contract or Permanent UK-South West (Region) Circa £70,000–£80,000 p/a
Day rate considered around £600/day maybe £700
- Project Cost / Risk Controllers and Managers - Contract Employment UK-South West (Region) £450–£650/day
- Project Controls Engineer - Permanent Employment UK-South West (Region) Up to £35,000 per annum
- Senior Project Controls Manager - Permanent Employment UK-South West (Region) Up to circa £70,000 per annum
- Project Controls Manager - Permanent Employment UK-South West (Region) £35,000 to £55,000 per annum
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: SUPERIOR ALTERNATIVE TO "MOST POPULAR" SOFTWARE FOR US PLANNERS?
A superior alternative to the "most popular" software for us as planners?
Spider Project Team is a group of project management consulting and training companies. With headquarters in Moscow, Russia, we have branches, partners and representatives in other Russian cities, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Romania, USA. We develop professional PM software Spider Project that is the most powerful and functional tool for project, program, and portfolio management.
We develop advanced approaches and methods of project management that are widely used by our customers in 37 countries. We provide training on project management and Spider Project software for our customers around the world.
We manage projects for our customers and implement corporate project management systems in companies of different industries. We believe that good project management can improve our world and are happy to provide the best services and tools to our customers.
We are proud of our achievements. The current version is used in 37 countries. Spider Project offers numerous unique functional features and is the only PM software that optimizes resource, cost, and material constrained schedules and budgets for projects and portfolios.
Spider Project offers numerous unique functional features and is the only PM software that optimizes resource, cost, and material constrained schedules and budgets for projects and portfolios.
Check it out here... Ask questions here...
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THANK YOU FOR READING OUR MESSAGES
If you’d like to lend a hand to the small but enthusiastic team behind this newsletter, feel free to reach out to us at ppadmin@planningplanet.com. We know there’s still a lot of work ahead to make this an informative and eagerly anticipated bi-weekly read, so get in touch and be part of the journey.
Regards...
The Planning Planet Team